An electronic registry for physiotherapists in Belgium

Area of Science:

• Health Informatics
• Digital Health Records
• Physiotherapy Practice Management

Background:

• Increasing digitization of clinical documentation necessitates secure electronic record systems.
• Existing paper-based physiotherapy registries pose challenges for traceability and data integrity.
• Legal and regulatory requirements for clinical documentation are evolving towards electronic formats.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and implement an electronic registry for physiotherapy acts within the KINELECTRICS project.
• To ensure legal compliance, traceability, and inalterability of electronic health records.
• To develop a user-friendly system for automated generation of legally required documents.

Main Methods:

• Utilized XML technology for the proposed registry structure.
• Implemented SHA-256 cryptographic hashing for document verification.
• Established a software certification procedure to ensure system quality and user-friendliness.

Main Results:

• Successfully created an electronic registry meeting all legal constraints.
• Demonstrated enhanced traceability and inalterability of generated documents via SHA-256 codes.
• Developed a user-friendly system enabling automatic production of necessary legal documents for end-users with certified software.

Conclusions:

• The KINELECTRICS project provides a robust, secure, and legally compliant electronic solution for physiotherapy registries.
• The system's design, based on XML and SHA-256, supports controlling authorities and promotes digital transformation in physiotherapy.
• This initiative aims to encourage wider adoption of electronic record-keeping among physiotherapy practitioners.